As a devout Christian Mary Johnson had heard a lot about forgiveness, and how followers of Jesus were called to “forgive as they had been forgiven.” And then in February of 1993, her only child was murdered…shot dead at a party. He was 20, his killer was 16.

“Being popular is a dangerous thing.” -Anonymous Honestly, I’ve always found it curious and more than a little disturbing that Christians celebrate so hardily Jesus’ “triumphal” entry into Jerusalem. As if we didn’t know how hollow, how fleeting, how painfully ironic this reception was.

What’s the big deal about a six year-old going to school in New Orleans? Maybe not much today, but in the fall of 1960, in a totally segregated school system, a certain girl attending a certain school was a very big deal. You see, Ruby Bridges was black, and William Frantz Elementary school was for white children only. Her father didn’t want her to go, but Ruby’s mother knew some child would have to step up. Ruby agreed.

At 13 years old, Mukhtar Mai was forced into marriage in rural Pakistan. Within a few years she was divorced and living with her parents. With no education, Mai made the best of her situation by working as a seamstress and within a few years had saved enough to purchase her own cattle.

Dr. Gianna Molla and her husband wanted children, and even though each of her pregnancies brought increasing physical difficulties for Gianna she remained open to life. Two months into her fourth pregnancy, doctors informed her that a tumor in her uterus had grown to the point that it was threatening both her life and the baby’s. She was presented with three choices: an abortion, a hysterectomy (which of course would also end the baby’s life), or a risky surgery to remove the tumor.

In a speech to the United Nations, former Director General Kofi Annan stated: “We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation, and basic health care.” While that statement is sinking in, let me give you one more statistic: every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-born disease.Enter Bill Ashe.